HydrogenG7ARTICLEpresentsAction Pact LNGARTICLEbridge to climate-neutral future Offshore Energy Magazine No. 2 August 2022 COOPERATION & ENERGY CONNECTING THE MARITIME & OFFSHORE WORLD FOR SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS GUEST COLUMN Thecla FigureheadBodewesTopSectorWater&Maritime SteelmakersARTICLEenteroffshorewind
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table of contents 'LNG central bridge to climate-neutral future' page 30 page 18 page 6 page 28 More investments needed for energy and climate crise theemissionsShippinginEmissionsTradingSystem 3 Editor’s note 5 Guest column 6 Hydrogen Action Pact 10 Roadmap to turn Norway into ‘green industrial giant’ 14 Offshore wind targets green hydrogen ambitions 18 'LNG central bridge to climate-neutral future' 22 Steelmakers enter offshore wind, green hydrogen industries 24 Shell’s ambitions for the energy transition in the UK 28 Shipping emissions in the Emissions Trading System 30 More investments needed for energy and climate crises 34 Spain sets forth regulations for floating solar installations 38 Collaboration enables Damen to lead hydrogen introduction 42 Haptic control development for mechatronic devices 47 What Is Happening 60 Colofon 60 Advertisers Index ActionHydrogenPact 1
noteEditor's 3
When it comes to the energy transition there is no silver bullet. But there is green hydrogen. It can make an important contribution in fighting climate change. Hydrogen is enjoying a significant momentum today. The industry should not miss this unique chance to make hydrogen an important part of our clean and secure the energy future.
Collaboration is essential in order to be able to use hydrogen in the future economy. As for green hydrogen, also known as 'renewable hydrogen', the offshore energy industry is essential. Renewable energy that is generated at sea, can be used to make hydrogen.
The Netherlands is in a good position thanks in part to the knowledge of gas and electrolysis technology, the great potential for wind energy in the North Sea and the energy-intensive industry that needs to make a strong commitment to sustainability. The first initiatives to make the Netherlands a hydrogen cluster are Vattenfallthere. has submitted a bid in the Hollandse Kust West offshore wind tender in the Netherlands. According to the details of the company’s plan, the project Vattenfall proposes to build would see Netherlands becoming the home of the world’s first offshore green hydrogen cluster. Next to that, subsidiaries of Shell have taken the final investment decision to build Holland Hydrogen I in Rotterdam, which will be Europe’s largest renewable hydrogen plant. Let’s make green hydrogen the main pillar of the energy transition!
The editorial team
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Modular future-proof climate neutral energy technology In the next thirty years we will see ma jor changes in energy storage and use. A major challenge in global shipping for which we as the Dutch maritime industry can make a difference. However, no real choice has yet been made about the en ergy carrier. Will ships sail on hydrogen, solar energy, methanol or a combination in a few years' time? In order to make the ships future proof, we have developed a modular future proof climate neutral energy technology that can be used for any energy carrier. So whether the ship is going to run on LNG, ammonia or air, the engine room is ready for the future.
Building with nature Meetings are not the most pleasant part of this job. I rather prefer to speak to the entrepreneur with a great product or a scientist about a new discovery. Just look at the clever solutions around the EcoShape consortium. How do you make nature work for our delta? EcoShape develops and shares knowledge about Building with Nature. This is a new ap proach to hydraulic engineering in which the forces of nature are used for the ben efit of the environment, economy and society. A well-known example of this method is the sand motor off the coast of South Holland. Since 2010, an enor mous amount of research has been done there and many PhD students have been able to prove their theories. Our coast is protected and nature is steadily taking its course. Moreover, this technology is scalable to other countries.
In short: it takes hard work and clever thinking, but together we can certainly make a difference.
Since a year I may call myself figurehead or chair of the Top Sector Water & Maritime. A fantastic honorary job in which I like to convert innovative ideas into practical solutions.
Moreover, due to strong urbanization, growth of the world population and cli mate change, the global water problem is constantly growing. Although the water is almost up to our necks, I prefer to see this as a sea of possibilities. As Dutch peo ple, we are strong in finding innovative and sustainable solutions for issues in the subsectors of Water, Delta and Maritime technology. We have an inseparable con nection with water. The world knows this and that gives us a head start to build our strong trading position.
Open source data
The Dutch water sector as a whole faces a huge number of challenges, not much dif ferent from other sectors such as construc tion, healthcare, education, and the entire industry. We are going through a transi tion that requires an enormous amount of brainpower and adaptability. Together with the other Top Sectors, among others, we are working hard to ensure that the Dutch innovative power can thrive. During various meetings I regularly hear the syn onym 'the perfect storm', when we try to name the current post-industrial era. But as Winston Churchill noted, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” It takes hard work and clever thinking, but together we can certainly make a difference.
Another good example of which the off shore market can also be a part is Digis hape. DigiShape is an open innovation platform of companies, knowledge insti tutions and governments that want to use the potential of digitization for the water sector together. They work together in active cases, in which they experiment as an open community with available data, new data and advanced techniques.
Thecla Bodewes Figurehead Top Sector Water & Maritime CEO Thecla Bodewes Shipyards Photo by Roelof Jonker
In this way the participants arrive at in novations in current water tasks more quickly. You can think of data about drill ing through soil layers, exchanging data about accidents and near-accidents at sea and currents around harbor mouths.
Sea of possibilities Water has a connecting factor. And I of ten play that card to clearly position our sector. There is no sector in the Nether lands that works without water solutions, is physically protected by dykes or can do without shipping because of all freight transport by sea or that doesn’t use sustainable energy from the North Sea.
'Never let a good crisis go to waste'
“Ramping-up global markets and sup ply chains for low-carbon and renew able hydrogen and its derivatives is a key enabling step towards a full de carbonisation of our economies. This need has become even more prev alent given the current geopolitical turmoil and disruptions, which led to record-high energy prices and a se vere risk for our energy security”, the communiqué states.
things, the minsters launched the G7 Hydrogen Action Pact (G7-HAP), saying Power-to-X,
The Group of Seven (G7) launches Hydrogen Action Pact
The action plan comprises six points, the first being a commitment to accel
The pact comes on the heels of the recently signed declarations through which some of the seven countries vowed to up their energy transition game and entered collaborations on offshore wind and green hydrogen, the latest being the one signed between Germany and the U.S. low-carbon and renewable hydrogen, and its derivatives such as ammonia play a central role in achieving net-ze ro emissions and energy security.
The climate, energy, and environment ministers of Canada, France, Germa ny, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the U.S. met late May in Berlin to discuss, align and take action on plans to accelerate energy transition.
The Group of Seven (G7) has launched the G7 Hydrogen Action Pact (G7-HAP), a joint initiative on low-carbon and renewable hydrogen, and its derivatives such as ammonia.
erate the development of low-carbon and green hydrogen, and other Pow er-to-X value chains both domestically and at global scale, notably in hard-toabate sectors. To achieve this, the G7 ministers have pledged to speed-up the shaping of regulatory frameworks and common standards, and con firmed their financial commitments for the market ramp-up. Under the G7-HAP, the seven coun tries will also help identify and close existing gaps for the ramp-up of green hydrogen supply chains beyond G7, exchange best practices on low-car bon and renewable hydrogen produc tion based on sustainability criteria
The ministers con cluded the meeting with a commu niqué containing commitments, rec ognitions, and plans to help reach the goals from the Paris Agreement, with the most notable commitments made on coal phase-out and ending direct public financing of international fossil fuel Amongprojects.other
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Some of the coastal countries will achieve this by adding new and mas sive offshore wind farms to their mix of renewable energy infrastructure, which can provide great amount of electricity needed to power green hy drogen production.
Acceler ating the buildout of green hydrogen production infrastructure inevitably involves raising the renewable energy targets and accelerating the deploy ment of new renewable energy pro jects, which the G7 ministers also em phasised in their joint statement.
and facilitate dialogue on the geo political implications of an emerging global hydrogen market.
In the case of G7 countries, new com mitments on both offshore wind and hydrogen have been made by some of them just hours and days before the energy minsters’ meeting in Ber lin. Namely, on the sidelines of the G7 meeting earlier that week, German and U.S. officials signed a joint decla ration on partnering in the area of cli mate and energy, and established four working groups, two of which are spe cifically dedicated to offshore wind and hydrogen. Strategy paper The offshore wind working group is currently drawing up a joint strategy paper on transatlantic cooperation, in cluding on the prevention of capacity shortages and on the sharing of ex pertise, with a joint workshop on hy drogen certification to also take place in June as part of the two countries’ new cooperation on hydrogen. For offshore wind, both countries have set targets of 30 GW by 2030, the U.S. as the Biden-Harris Administration took over the steering wheel at the begin ning of 2021, and Germany last month as part of the recently passed “Easter
Photo by AquaVentus / Jakob Martens
GermanyPackage”.is also one of the four coun tries that signed the Esbjerg Declara tion, under which it will, together with Belgium, Denmark, and the Nether lands, jointly work toward having 65 GW of installed offshore wind capaci ty by 2030 and 150 GW by 2050. The four countries said their offshore wind targets would support the ambitions for green hydrogen production of the EU (a non-enumerated G7 member), Eight associations and networks in Germanyhave called for bigger and concrete steps in bringing hydrogen production at sea, powered by offshore wind, to a more significant spot in German plans for producing hydrogen from renewable sources.
The minsters also stated they would support the role of low-carbon and re newable hydrogen and its derivatives in the decarbonisation of natural gas infrastructure and for zero-emission thermal power generation.
'Many plans to accelerate energy transition' and that they had set combined green hydrogen targets of about 20 GW of production capacity by 2030, with a view of expanding this even further for 2050. Last year, Germany also announced plans to auction off sites in its North Sea Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for the purpose of pro ducing green hydrogen offshore, with auctions expected to start as early as this Whenyear.it comes to hydrogen, the U.S. is currently the world’s second larg est producer and consumer, operating more than half of the world’s installed pipelines. Canada, albeit later than others, has also joined the offshore wind-to-green hydrogen discussion as the country’s government and that of Nova Scotia recently announced their intention to refresh and expand the mandate of the their offshore en ergy regime, and further collaborate on establishing a competitive offshore renewables sector expected to po sition Nova Scotia as ”a world leader in offshore wind and clean hydrogen Asproduction.”forFrance, the country is a few steps away from getting its first com mercial-scale offshore wind farm and is also home of the world’s first off shore wind-to-hydrogen system. Ja pan, which is among the leaders in floating wind project, has also start ed to see offshore wind-to-hydrogen technology and project proposals emerging, with several partnerships and initiatives launched over the past couple of years.
The Group of Seven (G7) has launched the G7 Hydrogen Action Pact (G7-HAP), a joint initiative on low-carbon and renewable hydrogen, and its derivatives such as ammonia.
Photo by BMUV / Toni Kretschmer
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Still, the most advanced of the G7 countries in this regard is the UK, the second in the world in terms of in stalled offshore wind capacity (beaten by China last year) and also has sever al offshore wind-to-hydrogen projects proposed by multiple big names from both oil and gas and offshore wind industries. Last year, the UK govern ment announced it would increase the frequency of auctions for funding through the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme to every year rather than every two years, starting from March Scotland2023.isalso on the way to holding its new Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) offshore wind leas ing process which, besides the electri fication of oil and gas assets, will allow for innovative projects to demonstrate their technology, such as for green hy drogen, in Scottish waters and offer the potential for clean energy from offshore wind to support North Sea decarbonisation. By Adrijana Buljan
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As the industry is perceived as the driving force to bring Norway into a
The Norwegian government has presented a roadmap for a green industrial boost, setting out measures to bring the country into a low-carbon emissions era through the help of seven industries, which are seen as crucial to curbing emissions and achieving net-zero goals.
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Within this framework, renewable energy takes centre stage as the key enabler of the transition to a green industry. Norway’s Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry presented this roadmap to show how Norway can deploy new, green industrial establishments and strengthen the existing industry in a bid to more than halve its greenhouse gas emissions.
The government will accelerate the opportunities for Norwegian business and industry in the green shift. The roadmap points out the course for the ever-growing green industrial boom. Together, we will create more profitable jobs, increase investment on the mainland, increase exports and contribute to emissions cuts.”
In this roadmap, the government points to seven focus areas with great growth opportunities – offshore wind; hydrogen; batteries; maritime industry; CO2 management; forestry, wood, and bioeconomy; and the process industry – explaining that it will facilitate faster development of projects within these areas, including through stronger capital instruments.
Jan Christian Vestre (Labor Party), Minister of Trade and Industry, commented: “We are now presenting low-emission society, Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre (Labor Party), explained: “We are going through the biggest change the Norwegian economy has seen in recent times.
Banking on renewable energy, Norway outlines roadmap to turn into ‘green industrial giant’
100 measures to strengthen green industry throughout the country. The goal is to accelerate large green industrial projects in both existing and new industries, so that we ensure value creation and welfare for the future. This is to create and share in practice.”
TheVestre.Norwegian government will undertake several measures to implement its new roadmap, including increasing case processing capacity to contribute to faster licensing of grids and power generation; and reviewing its entire policy apparatus to sharpen efforts further towards Hywind Tampen substructures ready to be towed offshore. Hywind Tampen is a floating wind farm under construction that will provide electricity for the Snorre and Gullfaks oil and gas fields in the Norwegian North Sea.
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Furthermore, Norway plans to commercialize industrial solutions for the capture, storage and use of CO2, creating profitable jobs in Norway and cutting global climate emissions in a cost-effective way. The country also aims to have “the world’s cleanest and most modern and energyefficient process industry, based on high-tech solutions, with great value creation and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.” The new roadmap outlines that Norway will remain “a maritime superpower internationally,” showing the way into the green shift by developing, building and using zeroemission solutions and autonomous vessels. Climate-friendly In addition, the country has set out plans to have “the world’s most sustainable forestry” and use the biological resources from sea and land for climate-friendly and profitable products, elaborating that bioraw materials will contribute to the development of industrial jobs and value chains. “Private capital will lead, and the government will contribute with state risk mitigation to green industrial projects. The need for such government risk mitigation is estimated at around NOK 60 billion until 2025. The business community can be confident that we will stand up and that we will equip the various support schemes to meet the need for government loans, guarantees and equity. The prerequisite is, of course, that there are good projects and private willingness to invest,” added
The government envisions seven focus areas, which it intends to pursue and develop further in order to achieve its decarbonization goals and bring its green industry plans to life. To this end, Norway intends to become “a leading nation in offshore wind” with an industry that develops and builds “top-class” wind power solutions. The country is putting the wheels into motion to streamline the licensing process towards the completion of the first wind power projects in the Norwegian Sea areas, as the goal is to put them into operation before 2030.
Seven pillars
In pursuit of its offshore wind ambitions, the government recently disclosed its plan to allocate areas with the potential for 30 GW of offshore wind production on the Norwegian shelf by 2040. Moreover, the country wants to develop “a coherent and profitable battery value chain,” which ranges from sustainable mineral extraction to battery recycling to attract large battery investments and gig Anotherfactories.ofthese seven pillars is hydrogen and Norway intends to develop a value chain for the production, distribution and use of hydrogen produced with low or zero emissions, and contribute to the development of the hydrogen market in Europe. The country has already taken steps to achieve these goals and an investment of $22.41 million in a new centre for energy research dedicated to hydrogen and ammonia was revealed in March 2022.
“We must continue the close cooperation between business and government and we must have good partnerships with other countries and the EU to ensure market access for our Norwegian, green companies. A strategic industrial partnership with the EU will, for example, help ensure access to raw materials for Norway and the EU,” says Vestre.
Photo by Johnny Engelsvoll / Equinor
To comply with this roadmap, the country will also provide “targeted risk relief for good, economically profitable projects within the seven focus areas,” such as different variants of loans, guarantees and equity for green industrial projects. The policy instruments estimate that the need for such government risk mitigation for Norway’s green industrial boost may be in the order of NOK 60 billion (over $6 billion) by 2025.
12 green change in the business sector.
'100 measures to strengthen green industry'
In a bid to accelerate the energy transition, the Norwegian government will continue its efforts to promote CO2 management, hydrogen and electrification as important contributions to cutting emissions from the Norwegian industry and achieving the temperature target specified in the Paris Agreement.
The country’s government further emphasised that the speed and efficiency of adopting an emissionfree future depend to a large extent on access to renewable power, industrial areas, infrastructure, raw materials, capital, technology and expertise.
Additionally, the government disclosed its intention to establish a Green Industry Council led by the Minister of Trade and Industry, where the social partners, industrial actors, the environmental movement and research and development environments can discuss challenges and develop a common understanding of the role and responsibilities of different actors in green industrial development.
Photo by Jan Arne Wold / Equinor
“We need many more heads and hands for the green industrial promise. Therefore, we will include more people in working life, expand faster and more relevant educational courses where people live, and implement a broad competence reform in the business community that will ensure industry professionals,” said Støre.
“We will enter into a dialogue with the business community and the main organizations about climate partnerships, to find out how we can equip ourselves to realize the potential for rapid emissions cuts. Climate partnerships will contribute to a common understanding of what is needed to achieve the climate goals and anchor necessary emission reductions in the industry,” adds Vestre. By Melisa Cavcic Hywind Tampen is a floating wind farm under construction that will provide electricity for the Snorre and Gullfaks oil and gas fields in the Norwegian North Sea. It will be the world’s first floating wind farm to power offshore oil and gas platforms.
Clean and affordable power As access to clean and affordable power will be of great importance for investment decisions in the industry in the future, Vestre states that “there will be no green industrial adventure without renewable energy. Therefore, we want to increase power production, reduce the license processing time and strengthen the capacity of the power grid. It must happen quickly.”
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New offshore wind targets to ambitionshydrogengreenREPowerEUfuel
“The recent geopolitical events will accelerate our efforts to reduce fos and heatpump obligations, and mak ing LNG its ‘transition fuel’. The four EU countries that vowed to bring at least 65 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 150 GW by 2050 said they had set combined green hydrogen targets of The 150 GW of offshore wind capacity pledged to be reached by 2050 by Belgium, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands under the Esbjerg Declaration, signed in May at the North Sea Summit, will contribute to large-scale onshore and offshore production of green hydrogen, one of the focal points of the European Commission’s REPowerEU strategy.
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In an effort to strengthen Europe’s energy security and cut its reliance on Russian fossil fuels well before 2030, the EU plans to focus heavily on (green) hydrogen, faster deployment of renewable projects, rooftop solar about 20 GW production capacity by 2030, and are looking to expand this even further for 2050.
The new strategy outlines a target of 10 million tonnes of domestic re newable hydrogen production and 10 million tonnes of imports by 2030, to replace natural gas, coal, and oil in hard-to-decarbonise industries and transport sectors. Also in the medium term, the EU plans significant invest ments in an integrated and adapted gas and electricity infrastructure net Forwork.the four countries bringing for ward the massive offshore wind plan, integration and interconnection is also one of the top priorities. Under the Es bjerg Declaration, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands also announced their decision to jointly de velop The North Sea as a Green Power Plant of Europe, an offshore renewa ble energy system that will consist of multiple connected offshore energy projects and hubs, offshore wind pro duction at massive scale as well as electricity and green hydrogen inter connectors.
sil fuel consumption and promote the deployment of renewable energy for more energy resilience in Europe. Therefore, we will increasingly replace fossil fuels, including Russian oil, coal and gas, with European renewable energy from the North Sea, including offshore wind and green hydrogen, contributing to both EU climate neu trality and energy security”, the Esb jerg Declaration reads. One of the main short-term action plans of REPowerEU is the approv al of first EU-wide hydrogen projects by the summer, along with rapid rollout of solar and wind energy projects combined with renewable hydrogen deployment to save around 50 bcm of gas imports. In the medium term, the EU plans to increase its renewable en ergy target for 2030 from 40 per cent to 45 per cent, enable faster permit ting of renewables, set up a hydrogen accelerator to build 17.5 GW of elec trolysers by 2025 and a modern regu latory framework for hydrogen.
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By co-signing a joint declaration that will make the North Sea a green, four countries aim to harvest 150 GW offshore wind by 2050.
Photo by Menno Mulder
The system will connect the four coun tries and possibly other North Sea partners, including the members of the North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC). The Ministers of Energy of the four countries have also signed a declaration on realising and advancing these plans for energy islands in the North Sea, with one of the first steps being expanding the world’s first ener gy island to its maximum potential ca pacity of 10 GW at 2040 at the latest.
North Sea partners
'Interconnectors, energy islands, and green hydrogen tie-ups'
At the North Sea Summit in Esbjerg, Heads of Governments from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark took a vast step towards reaching the EU’s climate neutrality goal.
“We support the European Commis sion’s plan to develop a well-function ing market for green hydrogen in order to accelerate the buildout and support a high security of supply of affordable green hydrogen and energy for indus try”, the Ministers of Energy said. “In order to scale up capacity nationally and regionally, we will build on the on going work to establish an IPCEI on green hydrogen and consider further options for cross-border cooperation.
Denmark and the Netherlands will explore how to connect the energy island in the Danish EEZ to a Dutch energy hub, including perspectives for offshore green hydrogen production, and Denmark also signed a Letter of Intent with Germany to initiate bilat eral cooperation on green hydrogen both onshore and offshore.
The four ministers also stated that they would launch analytical work as a first step towards establishing the next of several major energy hubs and islands in the North Sea, including a collective process to identify options for the exact location, capacity and technical configuration. “We will begin planning for multiple energy hubs and islands by undertaking a screening of the potential for offshore wind, and where relevant green hydrogen pro duction, in our entire North Sea terri tory”, they said in a joint declaration.
In the development of energy hubs, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands have agreed to explore the possible synergies of cooperating on offshore hydrogen production and transmission, as well as an appropriate regulatory framework and support for green hydrogen innovation to support European production of green fuels and the phase-out of imported natural gas.
By Adrijana Buljan
Energy hubs
For a well-functioning green hydrogen market across Europe, we will accom pany and support the necessary EU regulation for green hydrogen”.
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The speech was delivered amid Rus sia’s invasion of Ukraine which has prompted Germany to reassess the energy and security policy situation and make itself independent of Rus sian energy imports. Consequently, the country has started to rapidly cre ate conditions for developing alterna tives to Russian imports. Scholz also reiterated that Germany’s first floating liquefied natural gas terminals will be there Earliersoon.this year, the country’s govern ment entered into charter agreements to secure four floating LNG terminals, also known as floating storage and
German Chancellor: “LNG remains the central bridge to climate-neutral future”
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Liquefied natural gas (LNG) remains the central bridge to Germany’s climate-neutral future even if the country has to resort to coal in the short term, Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany, pointed out during his speech at the BDEW Congress in Berlin early June.
“We have made significant progress in this regard: floating liquid gas termi nals will be available in the short term. With the LNG Acceleration Act, we are activating the construction of the nec essary port infrastructure and connec tion lines. At the same time, stationary LNG terminals are being worked on in order to diversify our gas imports.”
regasification units (FSRUs). Around €2.94 billion is made available to put the terminals in operation. They will offer a rapid interim solution for land ing LNG until the first stationary LNG terminals are completed. Meanwhile, Germany also introduced the socalled LNG Acceleration Act to swiftly expand infrastructure for the import of TheLNG.act, which came into force in June, proposes new regulations to allow for land-based and floating LNG terminals and the necessary connections to be constructed more quickly. This will in volve swifter approval, tendering and review procedures. “Security of supply is the top priority. We need a perma nently reliable energy supply. For us as an industrialized country, there is no alternative,” Scholz stressed.
LNG sites in Brunsbüttel, Wilhelms haven, Stade/Bützfleth, Hamburg/
“We will develop markets for hydro gen and green products, and that includes a sensible regulatory frame work. We will see to that, and we will do it as unbureaucratically as possible, also in view of some of the considera tions at European and national level,” Scholz continued. “To this end, we will provide financial support for hydrogen technologies where necessary. But we are primarily focusing on market-driv en expansion and want to create in centives for private investment.” Not only Germany but also the European gas industry is working hard to rapidly develop hydrogen solutions.
“To produce hydrogen in a cli mate-friendly way, we must make use of all technologies – be it steam reforming, electrolysis or pyrolysis. In other words, hydrogen from renew able energies and from natural gas,”
'A bridging solution to zero-carbon future'
The Höegh Grace. Through development, ownership, and operation of modern, floating LNG import terminals, . Höegh LNG is well placed at the leading edge of the rapid expansion of LNG transforming energy markets globally.
Photo by Höegh LNG
Fossil gas is expected to be relevant only for a transitional period. For this reason, the new gas power stations and infrastructure have been planned in such a way that they can be succes sively switched over to carbon-neutral products such as hydrogen. Therefore, building LNG infrastructure is a shortterm solution to facilitate alternative ways of importing gas. From the very outset, the German government has planned for this infrastructure to be suitable for use with hydrogen in the long-term future. That’s why the country is currently on a mission to build new supply chains and energy partnerships that can also be used for green hydrogen in the future. Last week, for example, the German Chancellor was visiting Afri ca where he held talks with partners about how the development of LNG can be supported and, in the future, a hydrogen infrastructure, too. Accordingly, the aforementioned LNG Acceleration Act includes provisions that ensure that the planned landbased terminals and the gas pipelines will be suitable for switching to hydro gen at a later stage. Importantly, this plan is said to be in line with Germa ny’s climate “Completingambitions.theenergy transition, strengthening our industrial sector and decarbonising it, improving mo bility and making it climate-neutral at the same time have been priorities for the federal government from the start,” Scholz said.
Decarbonisation puzzle
As disclosed by Scholz, Germany’s government is now setting the frame work to accelerate the market rampup for hydrogen. In this context, the government is further developing the national hydrogen strategy calling for 10 gigawatts of electrolysis capacity in Germany for the production of green hydrogen by 2030. Germany also set its sights on expanding energy part nerships and making them a priority.
“We want to be the first major indus trialized country to become carbon neutral by 2045, in ways that make our lives better and our economies more efficient. We want to obtain 80 percent of gross electricity consump tion from renewable energies by 2030. And we want to generate 50 percent of the heat in a climate-neutral man ner by 2030,” he added.
Margarethe Kleczar, Vice President Carbon Management and Hydrogen at Germany’s oil and gas company Win tershall Dea emphasised at the BDEW Congress. “We will need this techno logical diversity to make the energy transition a success and to maintain energy security,” Kleczar added. According to the coalition agreement of Germany’s federal government, Germany alone will need up to 110 TWh of hydrogen in 2030 – an amount that will not be possible to achieve solely from renewable sources. For this reason, gas producers, municipal utilities, grid operators and heating manufacturers are all confronting the transition to higher use of H2 in equal measure.
19 Moorburg, Rostock/Hafen and Lubmin are planned. However, their realisation depends on a number of technical and economic factors.
In early May, Wintershall Dea took ac tion to decarbonise the country’s in dustry with the help of hydrogen and CCS thanks to its latest project that will enable these two methods to work in tandem to shape the future of the Wilhelmshaven Energy Hub.
“Hydrogen production at sea in the German exclusive economic zone of fers great opportunities for the expan sion of electrolysis capacity for the goals of the national and European hydrogen strategy, and for offshore wind energy development in Germany, if it is made possible under econom ic conditions. We now need a sprinter programme so as not to miss the in ternational connection,” the joint initi ative said. The initiative has published a joint agenda paper with six measures that would enable offshore hydrogen pro duction in Germany, strengthen the contribution of this technology in in dustrial decarbonisation, and help in crease the diversity of sources for do mestically produced green hydrogen.
By Naida Hakirevic Prevljak Tree Energy Solutions’ (TES) import terminal in Wilhelmshaven has been included in the list of priority projects supported by the German government’ Photo by TES
In light of the hydrogen story, eight associations and networks in Ger many, through a joint initiative called Offshore-Wind-H2-Eight (OffshoreWind-H2-Achter), have called for big ger and concrete steps in bringing hydrogen production at sea, powered by offshore wind, to a more significant spot in German plans for producing hydrogen from renewable sources.
“The gas industry has the ideas, the know-how and the will to change and evolve. Without a future-proof gas grid infrastructure, natural gas, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and hydrogen, the energy transition and a more secure energy supply will not be possible,” Hugo Dijkgraaf, Chief Technology Officer at Wintershall Dea.
According to Wintershall Dea, hydro gen as an energy carrier and the un derground storage of CO2 will repre sent important building blocks for the decarbonisation of industry and there by for achieving the climate targets of both Germany and the European Un ion.
In mid-May, the European Commission released the REPowerEU Plan – a plan on how the EU can rapidly reduce its dependence on Russian fossil fuels and fast forward the green transition. It represents the EU’s response to the hardships and global energy market disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of TheUkraine.ECemphasised that there is a double urgency to transform Europe’s energy system: ending the EU’s de pendence on Russian fossil fuels and tackling the climate crisis. “In midMay, the EU Commission presented a comprehensive package of initiatives and proposals designed to make us less dependent on Russian imports. Our strength as the European Union is the internal market and the solidarity between the member states,” Scholz continued. “The transformation of our energy supply is not a national pro ject, but is embedded in a European energy transition,” the Chancellor con cluded.
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In his speech, Scholz also mentioned that Germany’s actions in terms of its energy policy are part of a wider initia tive supported and led by the EU.
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RWE and ArcelorMittal are assessing options for joint participation in ten ders for offshore wind farm sites in the North Sea. The amendment of the “Wind Energy at Sea Act” (WindSeeG) currently underway is crucial for suc cess, as it will permanently shape the cost structure in the German offshore wind sector, the companies said. If the law were to establish “negative bids” in offshore wind tenders, financing wind farms would be more challenging and send the wrong pricing signals to the market by making wind power unnec essarily expensive, according to the companies.
Competitive electricity prices are ab solutely necessary, if energy-intensive industries such as the steel industry, which operates in a competitive glob al environment, are to have a future in Germany. RWE and ArcelorMittal said that they strongly believe that with the right steer, green steel from Germany can become a benchmark worldwide for low-carbon emissions steel produc tion. Green Hydrogen RWE and ArcelorMittal also want to
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Steelmaking giant enters offshore wind, green hydrogen industries
The partnership centres on driving for ward the production of carbon-neutral steel, with a plan to replace coal with wind power and green hydrogen as the main source of energy in steel produc tion at ArcelorMittal’s steelmaking sites in Germany, RWE said. To decarbonise its production sites in Bremen, Ham burg, Eisenhüttenstadt, and Duisburg as planned, ArcelorMittal Germany needs renewable energy on a large scale.
German energy company RWE and steel producer ArcelorMittal have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to develop, build and operate offshore wind farms and hydrogen facilities that will supply the renewable energy and green hydrogen required to produce low-emissions steel in Germany.
tory framework is right, we want to be successful together in the bidding for offshore areas. ArcelorMittal is an excel lent partner to expand our industry co operation and thus give real impetus to decarbonisation projects in Germany.”
”ArcelorMittal Germany is embarking on a radical transition to ensure we reach our CO2 emissions reduction tar gets, meaning that the energy used to make steel will need to be clean ener gy,” Reiner Blaschek, CEO ArcelorMit tal Germany, said. ”The partnership we have announced with RWE today is significant for a number of reasons: it will provide us with the renewable, affordable electric ity and green hydrogen that we need to produce low-emissions steel while remaining competitive in a global mar ket. It also offers vital security in the supply chain, by integrating the supply of energy and hydrogen into our busi ness. We are looking forward to work ing with RWE on this highly important project and benefiting from their expe rience and know-how, as we continue to lead the industry in the decarboni sation of steelmaking in Germany and beyond.”
Reduction CO2 emissions
With the combination of RWE’s exper tise in offshore wind farms and electro lysers, and ArcelorMittal as a guaran teed buyer of the green electricity and hydrogen, the two companies believe they have excellent opportunities for a viable partnership arrangement. RWE and ArcelorMittal intend to conclude long-term purchase agreements for both wind power and green hydrogen.
'Production of low-emissions steel in Germany''
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”Industry needs both in large quantities as soon as possible in order to achieve its climate targets. That is why we are planning one of the most ambitious expansion projects for offshore wind farms and electrolysers in Germany, to gether with ArcelorMittal. If the regula
As the world’s leading steel producer, ArcelorMittal has a target to reduce CO2 emissions by 35 per cent by 2030 in Europe, and a group-wide target to be carbon neutral by 2050. By 2030, ArcelorMittal is aiming to exceed this target in Germany, by moving away from coal-intensive blast furnace tech nology to electric arc furnaces (EAFs) and direct reduction (DRI) plants. They also plan to gradually replace natural gas with green hydrogen as the fuel for these facilities, once it is cost-compet itive at scale. In addition to the partnership on re newable electricity and green hydro gen, the companies want to investi gate possible uses for ArcelorMittal’s low-emissions steel in components for RWE’s renewable electricity plants. RWE wants to be climate-neutral by 2040. To achieve this goal, the energy company needs to decarbonise its sup ply chain, and the use of low-emissions steel will make an important contribu tion to this. By Adnan Durakovic work together on the development of green hydrogen, by jointly looking for areas where electrolysis plants can be built to supply the steel production sites in Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt, starting with a 70 MW pilot plant by 2026 with the clear intention to in crease to gigawatt-scale projects in the long term – subject to approval of pub lic funding. ”Electricity from renewable energies and green hydrogen must become the hallmark of industrial pro duction in Germany,” Sven Utermöhlen, CEO Offshore Wind, RWE Renewables.
Shell’s ambitions for the energy transition in the UK
Oil and gas major Shell plans to increase its share of the supply of oil and gas to the UK and invest £100 million (about $122 million) by 2030 to help 15,000 people get skilled jobs as part of its investment strategy in the UK.
These plans were revealed by Shell CEO, Ben van Beurden, during the company’s Powering Progress UK Summit for staff and contractors as two out of five company ambitions for the UK until 2030. These are meant to accelerate Shell’s energy transition in the UK. “We are going to go faster. I believe this is necessary at this time of great uncertainty and change,” van Beurden said, emphasising that it is absolutely clear that the energy the Brent field some fifty years ago. Today, Shell is responsible for about 10 per cent of the UK’s oil and gas supply. Now, the company aims to increase this to about 15 per cent by 2030 while producing only half the amount of the operational emissions by 2030, compared with 2018. “Such responsibly produced, local gas plays an essential role in the UK’s energy security and transition to net-zero emissions and is in line with the North transition needs to go faster and that Shell will play a leading role in its acceleration. In his speech, van Beurden outlined Shell’s five ambitions for the UK until 2030, two of which were already known, and three new ones. Five ambitions Shell’s first ambition is to continue to supply the oil and gas as it has been doing since the discovery of
Photo by Josh Hind
This is also true for its second ambition, which is to spend more than 75 per cent of the £20-25 billion on the development of low- and zerocarbon energy products and services, including offshore wind, hydrogen, charging infrastructure for electric cars and carbon capture and storage, to give British businesses access to clean energy. Shell’s third ambition is to have, by 2030, more than 100,000 public charging points for electric vehicles in the UK, so that 90 per cent of drivers are within 10 minutes of a Shell rapid charger. Today, the company has 5,250 charging points.
Renewable power
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Sea Transition Deal between the UK government and the offshore oil and gas industry,” Shell CEO added.
The fourth ambition is to provide renewable power for 5 million customers by 2030 from 1.4 million today. “So we are ready to become the one-stop-shop for more and cleaner energy. Beyond increasing energy security and cleaner energy, we will also help strengthen the UK’s economy,” van Beurden stated. The last of the five new ambitions is to invest £100 million by 2030 to help 15,000 people get skilled jobs. This could be done, for example, by establishing Energy Transition Skills Programmes and Centres to help people across communities in the UK to develop skills that will be valuable in the energy transition. “There you have it. Five clear ambitions. We are investing in reducing emissions from supplying oil and gas. We are investing to grow low- and zero-carbon energy and fast charging points. And we are investing in renewable power and sustainable jobs,” Shell CEO concluded.
In fact, Shell has an interest in six of the UK’s twelve planned exploration wells. Shell believes that investments in projects like these require a stable fiscal policy and the company continues to look to the government for those assurances.
Earlier this year, UK regulators approved Shell’s Jackdaw gas project in the North Sea, which has the potential to produce 6.5 per cent of the UK’s gas output. However, this move was not well-received by environmental groups, which staged protests in front of the UK government’s offices, calling for the project to be cancelled. The company will now move ahead with this project, as well as with other similar ones.
Kwasi Kwarteng, UK’s Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, also spoke at the Shell event, saying that Shell would be an industry leader in clean energy production in the UK. He added: “We will need oil and gas for decades to
A Shell tanker driving through the countryside in Derby UK. Shell set out five ambitions for the UK until 2030.
Stepping forward “And I think it’s only fair that as I launch another licensing round later in the year, those companies who profit from our natural resources reinvest back into the UK. We need to see industry stepping forward with clear plans for accelerating investment in both domestic production and in the clean energy technologies of tomorrow –and I welcome Shell’s plans to invest up to £25bn in next-generation North Sea energy technologies in the next 10 Earlieryears.”
TShearwater Platform off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland.
By Nermina Kulovic
Photo by Stuart Conway
this year, the UK government announced the introduction of the Energy Profits Levy charged on profits of oil and gas companies at a rate of 25 per cent. The government is also building into the new levy a new investment allowance that doubles the relief for the energy companies that invest their profits in the UK. “We all need to demonstrate that production on the UK Continental Shelf will have a lasting benefit to the British economy – helping to secure jobs and livelihoods for the decades ahead,” Kwarteng concluded.
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'We are investing in renewable power and sustainable jobs' come while we transition to cheap, clean, home-grown energy. That’s why we want to ensure we don’t squander the resources we are blessed with in the North Sea because our oil and gas reserves will ensure our national security. We want to protect this important asset for many decades to come.”
MEPs also want GHG emissions other than CO2 to be included, such as methane nitrous oxides. 75% of the revenues generated from auctioning maritime allowances shall be put into an Ocean Fund to support the transition to an energy-efficient and climate-resilient EU maritime sector.
The ETS would now be extended to maritime transport, as requested several times in the past. Specifically, members of the European Parliament want to cover 100% of emissions from intra-European routes as of 2024 and 50% of emissions from extraEuropean routes from and to the EU as of 2024 until the end of 2026.
MEPs believe that the ETS is at the core of European climate policy and has triggered significant reductions in emissions, as putting a price on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has given economic actors an incentive to reduce their emissions and invest in low-carbon technologies.
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To remind, the ETS is part of the ‘Fit for 55 in 2030 package’, which is the EU’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels in line with the European Climate Law.
Cross-party support European shipowners represented by the European Community Shipowners’ Association (ECSA) have welcomed the strong cross-party support by the
EU Parliament wants to include shipping emissions in the Emissions Trading System
From 2027, emissions from all trips should be covered 100% with possible derogations for non-EU countries where coverage could be reduced to 50% subject to certain conditions.
To incentivise industries to further reduce their emissions and invest in low-carbon technologies, the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) should be reformed and its scope enlarged, members of the European Parliament said.
A key element of the Parliament’s position is the enforcement of the ‘polluter-pays’ principle, by ensuring the mandatory pass-through of the ETS costs to the commercial operators of the vessels through contractual ECSAclauses.said it also welcomes the proposal of the Parliament to create a sector-dedicated fund and to earmark 75% of the revenues generated by the shipping allowances to the energy transition of the sector. “European shipowners welcome the increased climate ambition of the ‘Fit for 55’ package. We have criticised the lack of consistency and have put forward workable solutions. The Parliament’s vote is a strong signal that the European policy-makers listen to us and take into account the proposals of our sector,” Sotiris Raptis, ECSA’s Secretary General, commented.
ESPO, therefore, calls on EU Member States in the Council to closely consider the EP position and to address carbon and business leakage in their general approach to be agreed on 28 June.
The Damen RSD E-tug 2513 ‘Sparky’ is a fully electric harbour tug, recently delivered to Port of Auckland. Photo © Damen Shipyards
By Naida Hakirevic Prevljak
Isabelle Ryckbost, ESPO Secretary General, said. More work is needed to ensure that the maritime EU ETS delivers the greening of shipping, whilst safeguarding the competitiveness of the European maritime sector and ports. European ports look forward to helping policymakers find solutions to the issue of carbon and business leakage to deliver an effective maritime ETS.
“We need all hands on deck and the role of the commercial operators is key for reducing emissions. The earmarking of the revenues to shipping is a prerequisite for financing the uptake of cleaner fuels. It’s a make-or-break moment for the decarbonisation of shipping and the competitiveness of the sector.”
“The European Parliament position on EU ETS contains many of the key elements for an ambitious and effective maritime emission trading system. We very much welcome the willingness of the Parliament to address the risk of carbon and business leakage, which would undermine the climate goals whilst damaging the competitiveness of the EU port sector. We hope that EU Member States take these measures onboard in their general approach as part of finding a solution to this issue. Some further fine-tuning might be needed but all the necessary elements for a solution is now on the table,”
European port business
In order for a regional ETS in the EU to be effective and aligned with the polluter pays principle, carbon leakage through rerouting of ships outside of the ETS scope must be avoided at all costs. If this is not addressed in the final legislation, the ETS would fail to effectively reduce emissions from ships whilst also producing a negative impact on the European port business, according to ESPO. European ports therefore strongly support the measures adopted by European Parliament making it less attractive for ships to change their routes, divert calls, or engage in other evasive behaviours in order to avoid paying into the EU ETS. ESPO believes that the EP position provides a good basis to address carbon and business leakage in the ETS. The preventative measures included in the EP position should be included in the final ETS to be agreed between European Parliament and EU Member States.
The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) has also welcomed the EP position that outlines an ambitious and robust ETS that includes measures to address, and if possible, avoid carbon and business leakage. ESPO has also welcomed that the EP position includes earmarking of revenues for investments in ports and maritime.
29 plenary of the European Parliament for key provisions under the revised Emission Trading System for shipping.
Even though global energy investments are expected to reach $2.4 trillion this year – driven by renewables, energy efficiency and rising costs – the International Energy Agency (IEA) believes that this is not enough to come to grips with the energy security and climate crises, exacerbated by the current geopolitical situation.
lens through which many investments are now viewed, widespread cost pres sures, the major boost in revenues that high fuel prices are bringing to traditional suppliers, and burgeoning expectations in many countries that investments will be aligned with solu tions to the climate crisis.
Global energy investment
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Faster ramp-up of investments needed to tackle double whammy of energy and climate crises
According to the IEA’s World Energy Investment 2022 report, today’s levels of capital spending are still far from suf ficient to tackle the energy and climate crises, which are currently permeating the world. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the new investment land scape includes the energy security
According to a new report by the In ternational Energy Agency, global en ergy investment is set to increase by 8 per cent in 2022 to reach $2.4 tril lion, with the anticipated rise coming mainly in clean energy. Although the IEA finds this encouraging, it outlined
Moreover, tight supply chains are also playing a large part in the headline rise in investment, with almost half of the overall increase in spending be ing a reflection of higher costs, from labour and services to materials such as cement, steel and critical minerals. These challenges are deterring some energy companies from picking up their spending more quickly, explains the IEA. The IEA’s report states that there is rapid growth underway – from a low base – in spending on some emerging technologies, notably batteries, low emissions hydrogen, and carbon cap ture utilisation and storage.
Fatih Birol, IEA Executive Director, re marked: “We cannot afford to ignore either today’s global energy crisis or the climate crisis, but the good news is that we do not need to choose be tween them – we can tackle both at the same time. A massive surge in in vestment to accelerate clean energy transitions is the only lasting solution. This kind of investment is rising, but we need a much faster increase to ease the pressure on consumers from high fossil fuel prices, make our ener gy systems more secure, and get the world on track to reach our climate goals.”
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Photo by Menno Mulder
The IEA says that the clean energy investment grew by only 2 per cent a year in the five years after the Par is Agreement was signed in 2015, but since 2020, the pace of growth has accelerated significantly to 12 per cent. Spending has been underpinned by fiscal support from governments and aided by the rise of sustainable finance, especially in advanced econ omies, as outlined in this report. Re newables, grids and storage now ac count for more than 80 per cent of total power sector investment while the spending on solar PV, batteries and electric vehicles is now growing at rates consistent with reaching global net-zero emissions by 2050.
Paris Agreement
that the growth in investment is still far from enough to tackle the multi ple dimensions of today’s energy cri sis and pave the way toward a cleaner and more secure energy future.
The report shows that the fastest growth in energy investment is com ing from the power sector, mainly in renewables and grids, and from en ergy efficiency. However, the rise in clean energy spending is not evenly spread with most of it taking place in advanced economies and China. In some markets, energy security con cerns and high prices are prompting higher investment in fossil fuel sup plies, most notably in coal.
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Furthermore, the IEA informs that an other warning sign comes in the form of a 10 per cent rise in investment in coal supply in 2021, led by emerging economies in Asia, with a similar in crease likely in 2022. Even though China has pledged to stop building coal-fired power plants abroad, a sig nificant amount of new coal capacity is coming onto the Chinese domestic market. Additionally, the report elabo rates that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed up energy prices for many consumers and businesses around the world, hurting households, industries and entire economies – most severely in the developing world where people can least afford it.
The report indicates that the invest ment in battery energy storage is ex pected to more than double to reach almost $20 billion in 2022. More needs to be done Based on this report, despite some bright spots such as solar in India, clean energy spending in emerging and developing economies – exclud ing China – remains stuck at 2015 lev els, with no increase since the Paris Agreement was reached. The report elaborates that public funds to sup port sustainable recovery are scarce, policy frameworks are often weak, economic clouds are gathering, and borrowing costs are rising. As all of this undercuts the economic attrac tiveness of capital-intensive clean technologies, much more needs to be done, including by international de velopment institutions, to boost these investment levels and bridge widening regional divergences in the pace of energy transition investment.
Photo by Menno Mulder 'More needed for a cleaner and more secure energy future'
The IEA further discloses that the share of spending by oil and gas com panies on clean energy is rising slow ly, with what progress there is driven mainly by the European majors and a handful of other companies. Bearing this in mind, the overall clean energy investment accounts for around 5 per cent of oil and gas company capital expenditure worldwide, up from 1 per cent in 2019. In addition, worldwide exploration spending rose 30 per cent in 2021, with the increase in the United States, Canada and Latin America offering the prospect of a more diversified supply in the years ahead. The IEA concludes this report by emphasizing that high er and more diversified investment is needed to curb today’s price pres sures and create more resilient clean energy supply chains.
Once-in-a-generation
Photo by Menno Mulder
The IEA states that today’s high fos sil fuel prices are generating pain for many economies but are also gener ating an unprecedented windfall for oil and gas producers. In light of this, global oil and gas sector income is set to jump to $4 trillion in 2022, more than twice its five-year average, with the bulk of it going to major oil and gas exporting states. Therefore, the re port outlines that these windfalls gains provide a “once-in-a-generation” op portunity for oil and gas producing economies to fund the much-needed transformation of their economies, and for major oil and gas companies to do more to diversify their spending.
In lieu of this, some of the immediate shortfalls in exports from Russia need to be met by production elsewhere, notably for natural gas, and new LNG infrastructure may also be required to facilitate the diversification of supply away from Russia. While oil and gas investment is up 10 per cent from last year, it remains well below 2019 levels, based on the information available in the Overall,report.the report points out that to day’s oil and gas spending is caught between two visions of the future. On one hand, it is too high for a pathway aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5 °C while on the other, it is not enough to satisfy rising demand in a scenario where governments stick with today’s policy settings and fail to deliver on their climate pledges.
By Melisa Cavcic
The set of regulations, issued by Ministry for the Ecological Transi tion and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) and put under public consultation, aims to provide legal framework for the installation of floating solar power plants in the public hydropower domain, and in other publicly-owned hydropower infrastructures. National Response Plan In this way, the Spanish Government wants to determine the conditions that must be met in the administra tive authorizations and concessions for the commissioning of the float ing solar plants, which will allow for a more sustainable use of the public hydropower resources and offer bet ter preservation and protection of these water bodies. The move repre sents one of the measures approved late in March 2022 in the National
Spain sets bolstersolarregulationsforthforfloatinginstallationstoenergysecurity
Responding to the energy crisis instigated by the war in Ukraine, the Government of Spain has outlined a set of regulations for the installation of floating solar power plants on around a hundred state-owned hydropower reservoirs.
The installation of floating solar plants on hydropower reservoirs will boost the renewable energy gen eration capacity of Spain, which is essential to accelerate the energy transition and reduce the country’s dependance on fossil fuel energy imports, MITECO said. This is in line with the World Energy Transitions Outlook, released late in March 2022 by the International Renewable En ergy Agency (IRENA), where it calls on governments to fast-track energy transition for more energy security, resilience, and affordable energy for all. More importantly – on the grand scale of things – this would also help keep the hopes of 1.5°C alive.
Response Plan, launched to mitigate the potential consequences of the war in Ukraine to the economic and social wellbeing of Spain.
In addition, the Spanish government’s plan will facilitate the achievement of the goals set out in its Climate Change and Energy Transition Law, which aim for 42% of renewable en ergies in the country’s total electric ity consumption, and an electricity system with 74% renewable genera tion in the mix by 2030.
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The floating solar capacity to be add ed to the energy produced by the hydropower plants will increase the total production of the facilities and optimize the export infrastructure. These plants are also expected to have higher energy efficiency than land-based systems, thanks to the cooling effects of the water and the reduced presence of dust particles on solar panels, according to MITECO.
Evaporation of water
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The installation of floating solar pow er plants will be beneficial both for energy production and for the en vironment, MITECO claims. This has also been stated by other companies and organizations in Europe, who have conducted some preliminary research both for operational float ing power plants and via simulation and Amongmodelling.other
will not be installed in olig otrophic reservoirs (with low bio logical productivity and therefore good water quality), nor in lakes or lagoons of natural origin. Currently, there are around a hundred stateowned reservoirs in Spain on which this type of power plants could be lo cated, according to the government. MITECO and the relevant organiza tions will carry out a detailed assess ment of each one of them, to be able to establish the rate of coverage in order to guarantee compliance with the environmental objectives. Float ing solar power generation facilities on state-owned hydropower reser voirs will receive permits via tem porary concessions with a maximum duration of 25 years. Interested parties must have a con nection permit to a point of the elec tricity transmission or distribution network and submit studies on the possible impact of the solar panels on the body of water. In addition, the hydropower basin organizations may request technical reports from the concessionaire to assess the ef fects of the installation on the man agement of the public hydropower domain, safety and exploitation of infrastructures, compatibility of the use with respect for the environment and the guarantee of water flow, and other ecological or the environmen tal demands foreseen in the hydro logical planning.
The regulations foresee a maximum of three floating power plants per reservoir with partial coverage of the water body, in accordance to its en vironmental qualities: the worse the quality of the water, the greater its coverage may be. In this sense, the maximum percentage of the total area covered will be limited to 5% if the reservoir is classified as mes otrophic, that is, if it has a moderate level of biological productivity; 15% if it is eutrophic, which has a high bio logical productivity; and 20% if it is hypereutrophic, with very low water Plantsquality.
advantages, a reduc tion in the evaporation of water masses and a decrease in the pres ence of algae blooms in fresh water are expected thanks to shade the floating solar panels will provide on the surface. They will also prevent land modification that occurs at on shore facilities, therefore preserving valuable land for other uses. Given that the concept of floating photovoltaics is still considered nov el and emerging, follow-up programs will be established to better under stand the characteristics of these in stallations, considering the possible impacts they may have and the ways to optimize their uptake. To this end, MITECO said it would prepare man uals, technical guides or recommen dations to lead the implementation of the floating solar technology, and will continue to closely monitor the development of these renewable en ergy plants. By Amir Garanovic
Environmental qualities
Menno Mulder Photography | Offshore & Industrial Photographer www.mennomulder.com | info@mennomulder.com | +31 6 47 50 84 83 (The Netherlands) Clients: The art Offshoreof& PhotographyIndustrial Fully offshore certified: FOET with EBS-Offshore Medical, VCA, MIST, GWO, Working at Height, Chester Step
Designing for sustainability is particu larly important as it involves the entire lifecycle of every vessel. So we believe in integrating sustainability as early as possible into the design of our vessels and taking the transition to the circu lar economy seriously. We all need to be responsible for the products that Collaboration enables Damen to lead hydrogen introduction
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38 Collaboration has a vital role in achiev ing the sustainability goals that Damen Shipyards has set. The shipbuilder has always been an integrator of people, innovations and organisations. In this framework, the current ongoing en ergy transition presents the industry with many opportunities to develop zero emission ships and new transport solutions. As a shipbuilding company, rather than a research institute, Damen has the need to bring supply and de mand together. The fast-moving ener gy transition is accelerating to an even quicker pace, and this requires col laboration with universities, research institutes, fellow companies and cus tomers. Seven partners from the inland shipping industry join in the WEVA project, resulting in the construction of the first hydrogen powered inland cargo vessel Antonie at Concordia Damen. Stimulating further research into the potential of emission free fuels, Damen co-operates with the Delft Technical University and many other parties.Clear choice
Materialise
Mutual learning Damen supports the TU Delft Hydro Motion Team in two important ways. In combination with financial spon sorship, experience is shared. Regular consultations with the design team and also collaboration on design top ics show the students the way in which the industry works, and enlighten the we put on to the market and we are doing just that by keeping ownership and responsibility, offering maritime solutions as a service to our custom ers and stimulating the transition to new technologies by showing how the sustainable solution is also from a busi ness point of view the obvious choice.
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Finding this close loop has opened the possibility to employ hydrogen as a fuel for inland shipping. This first real life application will result in experi ence and data, that may accelerate the adaptation of hydrogen in shipping.
All of the companies mentioned are partners in the project. Harm Lenten is to be the owner of the ship under construction, Koedood Marine Group, HyEnergy TransStore, Nedstack Fuel Cell Technology are other partnes with Damen in this pioneering project.
Even before industry introduction of hydrogen as a marine fuel, Damen has been a partner of the TU Delft Hydro Motion Team since its earliest days. Since then the multi-disciplinary col lective of students and Damen engi neers has made significant advance ments in the development of zero emissions propulsion.
TU Delft and Damen share the same vision of a future where vessels of all types are powered using sustainable technology, but the scope of Damen’s activities means that we take it to its logical conclusion, looking ahead to a time when all aspects of water-based transport and infrastructure are sus tainable throughout their lifecycles.
Pioneering Nothing is off the table when it comes to identifying technologies that can contribute to the elimination of fossil fuels and the ultimate achievement of a circular economy. Last year, we accelerated the pace of our business development and our search for new markets and this resulted in the iden tification of many new business pros
pects and the discovery of new inno vations with potential benefits for the future. This has resulted, among other things, in the construction of ‘Waterst of Elektrisch Vrachtschip Antonie’(W EVA), the hydrogen electric cargo ves sel Antonie. A lot of industry partner join in the project. The vessel is built to transport salt. The inland shipping co-operation NPRC has granted the contract to ship salt to the Nobian chemical plant in Delfzi jl, in the far north of the Netherlands. The factory that produces chlorine and lye from the salt. A secondary product that results from this chemical process, is hydrogen. This is now delivered to the transporting vessel Antonie – that will dock for unloading at the factory.
DamenContactShipyards Group E info@damen.com I www.damen.com engineers with the fresh approach from the students. Expertise in ship building and construction is especial ly useful to provide insights into the design philosophy as well as practical information on how to build a vessel. In return, Damen gains new knowledge about the challenges of working with hydrogen and the electronic solutions that go with it.
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The Industry Contribution is a section in which companies share their business endeavors or market analyses. Please contact us at jp@navingo.com for inquiries. Team Hydro Motion from TU Delft in action at the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge all of the issues where we can have an impact. Together, these goals commit Damen to achieve a sustainable organ isation, sustainable operations and an ethos of always designing for sustain ability.
'The first hydrogen powered inland vessel will be a testcase and an accelerator for further adaptation of hydrogen'
Like all good partnerships, both sides gain from each other’s experiences and we look forward to carrying on our partnership with TU Delft Hydro Motion Team into what promises to be a cleaner and greener future. While the Hydro Motion Team is small and exper imental, the Antonie is big and real. March 30 this year, the keel for this 135 meter inland ship was laid at Con cordia Damen in Werkendam. Dutch transport secretary Mark Harbers fired the opening shot. The vessel will start operations mid 2023. Ambition Damen is determined to become the world’s most sustainable shipbuilder. In order to achieve that, we want to both share our knowledge with the industry as a whole, and also encourage small er, highly motivated groups such as TU Delft Hydro Motion Team to ensure that both achieve their maximum po tential and recognition. As part of their drive to attain leadership in sustaina bility, Damen has publicly committed to achieving the United Nation’s Sus tainable Development Goals (SDGs) at
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The current generation of maritime remote-control systems has countless features to ensure ship safety: system redundancy, smart sensors and control algorithms, to name a few. However, one feature that is still surprisingly scarce in the industry, is advanced haptic feedback to the operator.
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Haptic feedback specialist
The sense of touch and movement Haptic technology is not a new phe nomenon at all. It is very common in the automotive industry and many others. The vibrations on your smart phone are a form of haptic feedback, too.
According to Emil Koppen, R&D Man ager at Kwant Controls, haptics are a great asset to maritime control sys tems. “Haptic feedback can assist ship operators in intuitively controlling their vessel’s motions, by providing natural limits to the operating range of control levers,” he says.
Based in Sneek, the Netherlands, Kwant Controls specializes in hap tic feedback. The company develops and produces a full range of nautical controls. From propulsion to azimuth control units, and from steering and motion control units to joysticks. A significant amount of all seagoing ves sels worldwide is equipped with Kwant Controls’ products.
Haptic mechatronicdevelopmentcontrolfordevices
Within the field of haptics, one of the most important subjects is human per Aception.haptic device is a mechatronic de vice designed to provide force (kin aesthetic) and vibro-tactile feedback, coupled to an indirect interaction with a real and/or virtual environment. Kin aesthetic feedback haptics are used in devices that interact with muscles and tendons, giving users the sensation of force being applied. Vibro-tactile feed back is used in devices that interact
4343 Picture: ©Bachmann electronic
In haptic technology, several types of haptic patterns are investigated; fric tion, spring force, detents and vibra tion, sometimes combined with au dio-visual assistance.
temperature, the haptic device moves smoothly, without friction. It could also be used to limit the steering angles on cruise ships at higher speeds. The operator remains able to steer such courses, but the dry friction in the con trol equipment will remind him that his course might be causing discomfort to the passengers. Spring force. The kinaesthetic spring force feedback is a haptic pattern where the force is directly related to the position and movement direction. The force always points in the negative direction to the motion, so it works against the operators’ movement. This ensures that when you steer a lever one way, it automatically returns to the zero-position. You can also put a spring return on a throttle at, say, 80% power output. As soon as you push the throttle past that limit, the spring re turn makes you feel resistance, alerting you that you are demanding maximum power. Detents/bumps/clicks have been known for decades, as a ‘click’ sensation at certain positions, such as zero. Think of the climate control in your car, for in stance. The position references in it al low you to turn your thermostat to ‘zero’ intuitively, without having to look at it.
(Dynamic) dry friction is a complex phenomenon, arising as the force that resists the relative motion of (solid) surfaces sliding against each other. Dry friction could entail a heavier fric tion sensation on the throttle while the engines are cold, for example. Once the engines reach their operating
Vibro-tactile haptics, expressed in this case as a vibration which can be de scribed in terms of intensity, rhythm, and duration. Vibration can be used for the identification of forbidden zones. If you have two azimuth thrusters on a vessel, you could implement a forbid den zone on the thrusters’ steering positions in correlation to one anoth er. An intermittent, serrated sensation provides a warning signal if you posi tion them against each other at a cer tain speed. with the nerve endings in human skin that indicate heat, pressure and tex ture. It is critical to ensure that the level of haptic feedback is sufficient for task completion while being comfortable for the operator. The capabilities of the human sensory system are important for successful haptic control design.
Types of haptics
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Kwant Controls uses the Bachmann platform, equipped with various IO’s, to develop, validate and calibrate con less than six months. If we were to write software the conventional way, on an embedded target that we devel oped ourselves, it would take us up to a factor four of time to complete the process. Additionally, the integration of the control algorithm on our own embedded controller went extremely smooth with this fully tested control algorithm module,” states Mr Koppen.
trol algorithms on. Yet developing an algorithm is one thing, parametriza tion is another. “The more complicated a control algorithm is, the more you need to finetune it, and monitor the performance as accurately as possi ble” says Mr Koppen. “And that is all foreseen on the Bachmann platform”
he Fromadds.simple programming tasks to al tering and saving parameters, to read ing signals at the correct speeds and comparing them; smoothing out all the side issues on an embedded board would take an insane amount of time. “Rapid prototyping with the Bach mann platform allows us to realize the development of such an algorithm in Rapid prototyping with a haptic mecha tronics device To develop its advanced haptic con trols, Kwant uses a rapid prototyping platform. This development starts with an (approximated) physical model and control algorithm in Controllab’s 20-sim. The set-up is then simulated, whereby the physical model is optimized and validated with measurements. If the obtained results meet all requirements, the control algorithm is loaded onto the target via Controllab’s 20-sim4C and further validated and calibrated.
Tremendous time savings “These major time savings allow us to speed up our own processes simulta neously. Moreover, the system makes it possible for Kwant Controls to work on several developments in parallel,” explains Mr Koppen. “We can create control algorithms while developing embedded firmware for new micro controllers at the same time – some thing that wouldn’t work in a conven tional system, because the basic firm ware requirements would first need to be Oncefinalized."thefinal set of parameters has been determined in a practical setup, it is loaded back onto the model, so that a new version of the control al gorithm can be built with the latest parameters. “It is a closed loop be tween developing the simulation en vironment, testing hardware, loading parameters back onto the model and making software adjustments,” says Mr WhenKoppen.everything is operational, the company continues on a cus tom-made embedded circuit board. Mr Koppen elaborates: “We put the Bachmann PLC to great use during the testing and developing stages, but we Haptic control loop to enable bi-directional interaction with the Equationsoperatorof motion for physical plant model implemented and simulated in 20-SIM
Universiteit Groningen, Hanze Hogeschool Groningen and the Innovation Cluster Drachten. They also work with the Offshore Simulation Centre in Nor way, where they send their prototypes for testing.
BachmannContact Electronic GmbH I www.bachmann.info
The Industry Contribution is a section in which companies share their business endeavors or market analyses. Please contact us at jp@navingo.com for inquiries. do not incorporate it in our final product. Every time a change or upgrade is made to the control algorithms, it will be simulated and tested on the Bachmann platform before we inte grate to our custom-made target.”
taining advanced haptics assisted by a high amount of illumination. The next step is getting everything configured and training the operators, which is es sential to achieve the required intuitive level” explains Mr Koppen. The haptic device features full haptics on three axes; in the throttle, in the steering le ver, and in the outer ring, which allows the user not only to control the joystick, but also to set up the autopilot controls.
“The release of the fully developed me chatronic haptic device is a fact, con
Full haptic controllers
Kwant Controls does not use the Bach mann controllers as a definitive target in their mechatronic devices, for their Systems department providing over all propulsion solutions the Bachmann controllers are widely used as PLC also while the Bachmann controllers as fully industrial and maritime certified.
Innovative partners Controllab and Bachmann are not the only allies that Kwant Controls works with to develop its haptic prod ucts. The company joins forces with innovation-driven partners such as the Technical University (TU) Delft, Closed-loop integrated engineering environment / tool-chain
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Gasunie kicks off construction of Dutch national H2 network
Norwegian company Havkraft has signed an agreement for a project that will use its wave energy tech nology to provide clean power to a fish farm offshore Norway. The contract has been signed with fish producer Svanøy Havbruk for the installation of a full-scale Havkraft N-Class wave power plant at Sandkvia, close to the island of Svanøy, in western Norway. This marks the start of com mercialization of Havkraft’s oscillating water column (OWC) wave power plants, a technol ogy expected to be competitive with any other energy source in its market segment nearshore. The project, supported by Spare banken Vest and other unnamed partners, will be installed on site in 2023, according to Havkraft. It is expected to help Svanøy Havbruk decarbonize its operations and move away from using polluting diesel Havkraftfuels.has developed two types of OWC power plants – the first being the Havkraft N-Class which is fitted for nearshore loca tions, while the second – dubbed Havkraft O-Class – is more suit able for offshore operations. Both products are based on the Havkraft Wave Energy Converter (H-WEC) and equipped with Bosch permanent magnet gen erators. To remind, in March 2021 Havkraft installed a multi-purpose Powerpier solution, designed to offer protection from waves while exploiting them to produce clean power, offshore the Norwegian town of Ålesund.
On 29 June, the Dutch minister for climate and energy Rob Jetten announced new plans for the construction of a national transport network for hydrogen. Gasunie will develop the network and then take over as TSO. It will also play an important role in the storage and import of hydrogen. Five industrial clus ters will be linked to each other, to foreign countries and to hydrogen storage facilities. This will be done mainly with existing infrastructure and partly with new infrastructure that has yet to be built. Due to the expected growth in offshore hydrogen production in the North Sea, minister Jetten will investigate whether Gasunie can also fulfill the role of grid operator at sea. In the coming years, the hydrogen network will connect the seaports with the large industrial clusters in our country and with storage locations for hydrogen. In addition, connections with Germany (Ruhr area and Hamburg) and Belgium are also being realised. This is to help the growth of the hydrogen market. According to the statement by Gasunie, approximately 85 per cent of the national network will consist of recycled natural gas pipe lines. This is economically efficient because the reuse of existing infrastructure is much cheaper.
The data was streamed over satellite communications from the vessel’s location directly to the remote control centre in the UK. During the trial, the team in the remote control centre had full control of the different payload sensors on board the vessel and was able to change any settings to the different instruments
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What is happening Havkraft inks deal to power fish farm using its wave energy device
Ocean Infinity trials remote survey system for Armada fleet Marine robotics company Ocean Infinity has completed the first trial of its remote survey system, reaching an ‘important milestone’ in readiness for the Armada fleet of unmanned surface robot vessels. According to the company, the demon stration was completed from the UK-based remote control centre while the vessel was mobilised in Sweden with hydrographic and geophysical gear.
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Elogen signed a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) with UnderCharbone.this agreement, Elogen will supply Charbone with PEM electrolysers for a total capacity of up to 100 meg awatts over a period of four years (2023-2026), intended for Charbone’s green hydrogen projects. The LOI will set the delivery dates, models, quantities, and prices of the PEM electrolysers to be delivered. It also provides that Charbone can ensure the assembly, and/or the local manufacturing in Canada and the United States, of the PEM electrolysers and other components, under the supervision of Elogen.
According to the company, together with Fugro’s smart data management software, the speed and endurance of the Blue Prism will reduce risk and accelerate project delivery in off shore wind, hydrographic charting and coastal resilience.
Blue Prism will acquire bathymetry and sub-bottom data using hull-mounted sensors, while being able to tow multi ple geophysical sensors.
Fugro picks team for next-gen uncrewed surface vessel
What is happening
Fugro is developing its next gener ation of uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) called Blue Prism, which will deliver autonomous geophysical sur veys. Fugro signed a contract with Kooiman Engineering and Van Oos sanen Naval Architects for the naval design of this next generation of USVs.
Engineered for operations in both coastal and offshore environments, Blue Prism will combine an ultra-low carbon footprint with high-quality data collection, weather resilience and endurance characteristics, Fugro said.
“Autonomous vessels play an important role in the future of the maritime survey sector by improving safety, reducing carbon emissions, and delivering high-qual ity data more efficiently,” said Frank Koopman, Fugro’s global director of Marine Site Characterisation.
RWE, one of the world’s leading companies for renewable energy, has commissioned its first floating solar project –a 6.1MWp power plant installed in the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant. The project consists of around 13,400 solar panels that float on a lake near the Amer power plant in Geertruidenberg, and represents the latest of three solar installations at the Amer plant. The solar panels float on a lake whose waters were once used as cooling water. The lake has not been used for that purpose for many decades, has no direct connec tion with the nearby Amer river and is therefore ideally suited for floating panels, RWE said. To prevent the panels from drifting away in strong winds and colliding with the surrounding dike, they are anchored at 104 points to 52 concrete blocks sunk onto the bottom of the lake. These blocks weigh 4.6 tons each. A total of 25 kilometers of cable has been used to connect the panels electrically to the shore. The produced electricity is fed into the powers station’s grid, RWE confirmed.
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French tech company for PEM electrolysis Elogen is to sup ply Canadian green hydrogen group Charbone with PEM electrolysers for its green hydrogen projects in North Amer ica.
Elogen to provide PEM electrolysers for Charbone’s green hydrogen projects
RWE commissions its first floating solar project
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The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping has secured funding to initiate first of its kind Book & Claim System for shipping. The system would provide means for ship ping groups, both on a national, regional, and global level to support the decarbonization of their shipping operations with a consumer compensation per spective. Today, high costs and limited access to alternative fuels act as significant brak ing pads to rapid commercial deployment of green shipping in the maritime sector. The project, titled ‘Global Shipping Book & Claims System Design’ aims at taking the first steps in defining a public and recognized sys tem for pricing green seaborne
“Thistransport.project will deep-dive into the benefits and set-up needs required to build a system that matches supply and demand for green cargo shipments. A volun tary Book & Claim system helps shipowners sailing in limited geographies, such as Denmark, to sell their green cargo offer ings to customers around the world in a fair and responsible way – a strong incentive encour aging shipowners to take the strategic leap and deciding to invest in the more costly alter native fuels and ships needed,” Sara Åhlén Björk, Chief Econ omist at the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, explained.
Two Norwegian players to explore the use of hydrogen in maritime sector
The Danish government has signed a new political agreement with eight par ties which implies that it will have a 20 per cent co-ownership in future carbon storage licenses in the North Sea. According to the Danish government, with the co-ownership, Denmark removes part of the risk from the private com panies, which should help start a new business sector. At the same time, the government gets a share of the profits if carbon storage becomes a good business. After the first tender for storage permits in the North Sea in 2023, the signatories will meet again to evaluate the government’s participation in the next tender.
Embarking on a journey to bring zero-emissions solutions to the fore, Norway’s vessel owner and operator Golden Energy Offshore Services has teamed up with Gen2 Energy, a compatriot hydrogen company, to explore the use and availability of hydrogen-based fuel in the maritime industry.
What is happening Danish to hold co-ownership in future CO2 storage licenses
The two companies have inked a letter of intent (LOI) to mutually exchange experi ence and information regarding the use of possible hydrogen-based fuel for various types of vessels in Golden Energy Offshore’s fleet along with the identification of suitable locations for the availability of the alternative hydrogen-based fuel types.
Per Ivar Fagervoll, CEO of Golden Energy Offshore, remarked: “We hope that Golden Energy Offshore and Gen2 Energy together can find zero-emissions solutions that are attractive to our customers and capable of being implemented both on existing vessels in the fleet and newbuilds. “The markets we are serving are increasingly demanding the most environmentally friendly solutions as using hydrogen including methanol and ammonia. Teaming up with Gen2 Energy may enable us to provide solutions even beyond our high green standard.”
“For decades, Denmark has benefited from extracting oil and gas from the North Sea, but now we have agreed on the framework for how we can benefit in the long run from pumping CO2 into the same subsoil. The oil adventure can turn into a climate adventure,” Danish Minister of Climate Dan Jørgensen said. “CO2 needs to be captured and stored to keep the temperature rise down, and we expect demand for CO2 storage throughout Northern Europe. This agreement can both strengthen a new green industry and in the long run Denmark’s economy.”
Zero
1fundingCenterCarbongetsforstBook&ClaimSystem
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SeaShuttle hydrogen-fuelled containership project wins Enova funding
Offshore wind to power sustainable aviation fuel production
SeaShuttle, the ambitious project to build two hydrogen-powered, remotely controlled and autono mous-ready containerships, has secured NOK 150 million (€15 mil lion) in funding from Norwegian state enterprise Enova. The bold scheme, led by Dutch multimodal transport and logistics group Samskip and the U.S.-based marine robotics spe cialist Ocean Infinity, envisages two SeaShuttle ships operating emis sions-free between Oslo Fjord and Rotterdam, with each powered by a 3.2MW hydrogen fuel cell. The funding means the partners can move forward to contract the two new 500 TEU ships installed with the main propulsion solution that can be adapted to run on hydrogen fuel. A diesel-electric propulsion plant will be on board as backup. Enova, which operates under Norway’s Ministry of Climate and Environment, promotes a shift towards more environmentally friendly energy consumption and production, as well as technologies based on sustainable energy.
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The project is being led by NORCE, one of Norway’s largest independent research institutes, and will receive funding of NOK 15 million ($1.5 mil lion) per year until 2030 from the Norwegian government’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. HyValue aims to develop knowledge, meth odology, and innovative solutions for hydrogen energy carriers to build and support a competitive hydrogen energy sector. Now, GAC will use its knowledge of low carbon and sustainable bunker fuels to support the HyValue initiative for the development of strategies for the storage, handling and bunkering of hydrogen in maritime applications. It will also assist with the develop ment of maritime logistics and supply chain mechanisms, as well as under standing regulations and financial incentives to promote hydrogen as an alternative fuel source for shipping.
GAC Norway onboard hydrogen energy research project
Shipping and logistics company GAC Norway, part of GAC Group, has joined Norwegian hydrogen energy project HyValue, as part of its commitment to sustainability and accelerating decarbonisation across the wider maritime industry.
What is happening
“The development and optimisation of value chains based on offshore wind and fossil-free hydrogen is an interest ing way forward. Our strong and growing Swedish offshore wind development portfolio of currently more than 20 TWh offers ample opportunities”, said Anna Borg, President and CEO of Vattenfall.
Vattenfall and St1 have signed a Letter of Intent to develop a fossil-free value chain for production of synthetic electro fuel from offshore wind, with the next step being conduct ing a feasibility study into bringing the project to life in 2029 and gradually growing towards the target of one mil lion cubic meters. Within the partnership, Vattenfall aims to develop an off shore wind power-based hydrogen supply infrastructure on the west coast of Sweden and St1 plans to produce one million cubic metres of electro fuels, primarily targeted for sustainable aviation fuel, using the green hydrogen.
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Combined wind and wave energy project gets €1.9 million EUDP grant
The three turbines would accommodate containers, placed on special platforms and filled with elec trolyser modules, transformers and batteries. The hydrogen produced by the cluster would be trans ported via a pipeline to the Port of Rotterdam and fed into the hydrogen network there. The hydrogen will then be transported to users via a network of pipes – in the same way as with natural gas, accord ing to Vattenfall.
According to the start-up, with this recent award, the development of its wave energy technology can continue its development. The Exowave wave energy technology is based on the oscillating wave surge converter that extracts the kinetic energy from the ocean waves through bottom-hinged flaps. The technology can be coupled with com plementary market solutions to produce green electricity, cooling of data centres, fresh water for households, agricultural and industry use.
Vattenfall has filed a proposal for both sites offered by the Dutch Government at the Hollandse Kust West (HKW) area: VI and VII. At HKW VII, the developer wants to integrate a 45 MW hydrogen cluster into an offshore wind farm, with three tur bines equipped with electrolysers.
“Exowave has an exponential development and learning curve in the goal of reaching 250 MW of wave power in the North Sea by 2030 and involves the most experienced and visionary specialist competencies in offshore, green energy and new technology. ” Semco Maritime is the EPCI contrac tor for the project, while Offshore Center Danmark, MDT, DanWEC and Aalborg University are also par ticipating.
Danish clean energy technology start-up Exowave has secured a €1.9 million grant from the Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Pro gram (EUDP) for its project that combines wind and wave energy.
The grant will be used for the development of the company’s demonstration plant that will be located at a water depth of 14 meters in the North Sea. Exo wave and wind turbine supplier Siemens Gamesa have signed a letter of intent (LOI) to develop a combined wind and wave energy farm of respec tively 588 MW + 250 MW in 2026.
Now, Vattenfall wants to use Hollandse Kust West as a springboard for taking the next step and con necting multiple hydrogen turbines. “We want to show that the next step is already within reach and that we can produce offshore hydrogen on a large scale”, said Daan van Eijkel, Vattenfall’s bid manager who prepared the bid for HKW VII. “Thanks to the ‘island mode’, hydrogen turbines will eventually be self-sufficient, so there will be no need to connect to the electricity grid”.
The plan in the Netherlands builds upon the work Vattenfall is doing at its Aberdeen offshore wind farm, also known as the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC), where the company is developing the world’s first hydrogen-producing offshore wind turbine, with the electrolyser sited directly onto an existing operational turbine. In May, the company secured funding for this green hydro gen pilot project from the Scottish Government.
Vattenfall wants to build world’s first offshore hydrogen cluster
What is happening
Vattenfall is one of several developers that revealed their bids in the latest Dutch offshore wind tender, and not the only one planning the integration with hydrogen production. The partnership between Shell and Eneco, as well as the one between Ørsted and TotalEnergies, and RWE have included green hydrogen production in their Hollandse Kust West proposals. However, Vattenfall is the only one announcing the development of an offshore hydrogen cluster comprising single wind turbines equipped with elecrolysers.
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Vattenfall has submitted a bid in the Hollandse Kust West offshore wind tender in the Netherlands.
According to the details of the company’s plan, unveiled in July, the project Vattenfall proposes to build would see Netherlands becoming the home of the world’s first offshore green hydrogen cluster.
“We are very pleased that the next phase of our technology development will also be anchored in Denmark in a development environment that will strengthen not only the Danish growth layer within wave energy, but also the entire offshore sector which in these years must move jobs and invest ments from the old fossil offshore energy sector to new green jobs at sea within the next generation of renewable energy,” said Martin Dahl, chairman of the board at Exowave.
S ALT WATER Custom naval engineering solutions S ALT WATER Custom naval engineering solutions
Subsea 7 opens new office in South Korea
2 GW Irish floating wind farm planned to power green hydrogen, ammonia production
Améthyste, ArianeGroup, Cetim, HDF Energy, Rubis Terminal and Sofresid engineering have teamed up to develop a mul ti-service power barge ELEMANTA H2, designed to supply green electricity and hydrogen to large ships, reducing their polluting emissions by more than 80% during port calls.
The project partners have signed a memorandum of under standing (MoU) to deploy mobile solutions providing, from green or low-carbon hydrogen, cold ironing services comple menting the electrical grid, for container ships, cruise ships or tankers. ELEMANTA H2 will also enable hydrogen bunkering to meet the refueling needs of future hydrogen ships. ELEMANTA H2 aims to contribute to the decarbonization of port activities.
“From our new office in Korea we are able to better support our current efforts on several major offshore wind prospects and those we expect in the future,” said Daniel Cho, Subsea 7’s managing director in South Korea.
France to get hydrogen barge for electrification of ships at berth
57What is happening
The partners have identified the Port of Rouen and the Rubis Terminal location as a pioneer site because of its strategic posi tion close to Paris. With the support of Normandie Energies and the port operator HAROPA, a demonstration barge will embed a high-power hydrogen fuel cell system manufactured in France by HDF Energy. A high-pressure green hydrogen stor age system will cover the need for autonomy during port calls.
Subsea 7 has opened a new office in Seoul, South Korea, as it aims to bet ter support the local offshore wind market. According to Subsea 7, South Korea is emerging to be an important market for both fixed and floating offshore wind and the move is set to support the country in achieving its ambitious targets.
Equipped with a novel sensor suite for bird and biodiver sity data acquisition, the FLORA O.S. will be deployable as a low environmental impact system, according to developers which received funding for the project via European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF). As an automated data acquisition tool, the FLORA O.S. is expected to accelerate oceanic multi-use by facilitating marine spatial planning and consenting for the offshore renewable energy industry, like floating and fixed offshore wind. The station’s power generation system will be hybridized with wave and solar energy, thus making the system more reliable as a remote oce anic sensor in different marine environments.
The international consortium behind the FLOating RAdar (FLORA) project has held the kick-off meeting to formalize the start of a scheme that will develop and demonstrate an industrial-scale prototype of a multi-purpose ocean station with renewable energy generation and operational oceanography capabilities, dubbed the FLORA Ocean Station.
“We can connect with all stakehold ers to further establish ourselves in Korea and to help develop a sustain able offshore wind industry.” South Korea does not have any commer cial-scale offshore wind farms in operation and, besides the 60 MW Seonam demonstrator, it is home to the Tamra offshore wind farm which has a capacity of 30 MW.
58 What is happening
Vestas to test hydrogen-powered crew transfer vessel at Norther offshore wind farm 2 GW Irish floating wind farm planned to power green hydrogen, ammonia production
The Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation and Sinbad Marine Services have proposed a floating wind farm to be built more than 50 kilometres offshore Donegal, Ireland, and have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Swedish floating wind developer and technology provider, Hexicon, to bring the project to realisation.
The partners plan to submit an application for Phase Two Marine Area Consent (MAC) under the new Marine Area Planning Act in Ireland and intend to use part of the energy generated by the floating wind farm – which is planned to have a capacity of up to 2 GW – to produce green fuels such as hydrogen or ammonia.
The green fuels could be used to power the fishing fleet whilst also contributing to energy security for the port and local community, an initiative that will require some 6,400 tonnes of hydrogen annually. The remainder of the energy produced by the floating wind farm would be connected to the national grid and contribute to Ireland’s target of 5 GW from offshore energy by 2030.
Hydrogen is a crucial technology to advance this journey, which is why Vestas is eager to test its poten tial to reduce emissions from our service operations,” said Christian Venderby, Executive Vice Presi dent, Service at Vestas. According to Vestas, the new CTV holds the potential to generate CO2 savings of 158 tonnes, an estimated saving of 37 per cent fewer carbon emis sions in comparison to a traditional vessel, which is expected to be val idated during the pilot programme. The vessel, named Hydrocat 48, will initially be powered mostly by grey hydrogen due to a lack of availa ble green hydrogen in the amounts needed, said Vestas.
The partnership says that it is predicated on a ‘new approach’ which sees local fishermen engaged and influ encing the development process from the onset. “This is the first time in offshore wind that key players from several fundamentally-opposed sectors have come together to col laborate on a project with a common objective”, the three parties stated in their joint press release.
Vestas, in collaboration with Wind cat Workboats, is launching a pilot program to explore how a hydrogen-powered crew trans fer vessel (CTV) can help reduce carbon emissions from offshore service operations. Developed by Windcat Workboats and its sister company CMB.Tech, who recently said this was the world’s first hydrogen-powered CTV, the vessel features dual-fuel engines supplied by MAN Engines and is capable of being powered by hydrogen in combination with marine gas oil. The solution will be tested at the Norther offshore wind farm, located in the Belgian North Sea, and is planned to launch on 15 July and run until the end of the year. Vestas said that the programme will offer the company the chance to explore the most scalable approaches to incorporate hydrogen into its oper ational setup. The goal of the trial will be to collect insights into the opportunities and limitations of hydrogen-powered vessels in daily operations. “Hard to abate sectors, such as shipping, will be the final frontier in our global journey towards decarbonisation.
UK’s regulator North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has found that its offshore electrification competition studies underline the importance of cross-industry collaboration, as the concepts presented by the three winners of its £1 million competition highlight the potential for cost-ef fective electrification of oil and gas platforms using a mix of renewable and conventional power sources.
59What is happening
The vessels’ battery packs, shoreside electricity solution and electric hybrid use enable completely emis sion-free and noise-free port calls. Ships can also arrive and leave the port with only electric power. “We are pleased to have this loan agree ment signed with Nordic Investment Bank, an organization that shares our values and commitment to driv ing sustainable solutions,” Mikki Koskinen, Managing Director of ESL Shipping, commented. “With this loan, we support the decar bonisation of the shipping industry, enabling wider value chain impact on environmentally friendly transporta tion. ESL Shipping is demonstrating increased capacity and productivity, while at the same time supporting the transition towards low-carbon future,“ André Küüsvek, NIB Presi dent and CEO, said. The new vessels will be built at Chowgule and Com pany Private Limited shipyard in India. The first unit is planned to enter service in third quarter of 2023.
New 1A ice class electric hybrid ves sels will feature high cargo capacity, advanced technology and innova Thetion.
According to the winners of the com petition launched to accelerate the electrification of oil and gas assets in the North Sea, cost-efficient emis sions reductions of up to 87 per cent on offshore oil and gas platforms could be achieved using alternative power sources. The studies – by Orca dian Energy and partners (Crondall, Enertechnos, NSMP, Petrofac and Wärtsilä), Orsted and Neptune Energy, and Katoni Engineering – demon strated concepts which do not require power from shore, instead, these stud ies create standalone power systems using renewable power, which can be easily complemented by power cables from onshore.
Electrification oil and gas platforms could curb emissions up to 87% ESL Shipping receives €20 million for electric hybrid vessels
greenhouse gas emissions, including CO2, of the new vessels, will decrease by almost 50% compared to existing ships, making the ves sels the most efficient in the world in their size class, ESL Shipping claims.
Finnish shipping company ESL Ship ping, part of Aspo, has signed a €20 million loan agreement with Nordic Investment Bank (NIB). As informed, the 10-year loan will support ESL Shipping’s investment in a series of six new energy-efficient electric hybrid 5,350 dwt vessels, a project first announced in September 2021.
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